Sammi takes gold with Capital performance
SAMMI Kinghorn clinched her second gold of the World Para Athletics Championships after winning the T53 100 metres in London.
The 21-year-old won in 16.65 seconds at the London Stadium ahead of Australia’s Angela Ballard.
She added the title to her T53 200m crown and will aim to complete a treble when she races in the 800m in the evening session.
She said: “That’s the first time I’ve ever beaten that Chinese athlete (Hongzhuan Zhou). It’s a really big surprise, I couldn’t believe it when my name flashed up.
“I thought maybe I’d come second because I knew no-one on one side had beaten me. Once we’d rolled over the line everyone catches up quickly, so I really didn’t know.
“I feel like I’m never going to sleep again. This week has been incredible.
“The 800m is going to be so tactical. I’m excited, it’s not my favourite event but I can go and chill out and enjoy it. I’ve not been on the track longer than a minute yet so it’ll be nice to go around twice.”
Mickey Bushell claimed silver in the T53 100m to fall just short of repeating his success from London 2012.
The 27-year-old finished behind Canada’s Brent Lakatos in 14.85s. Bushell’s second place comes after disappointment at last year’s Rio Paralympics when he could only finish sixth in his title defence.
“I’ve gone from sixth in Rio to second here. What a city to do it in as well, in front of a home crowd,” he said.
“I’ve just trained, kept my head down and trained hard. This year I’ve had no heath issues and this is what happens when I’m not ill. I’m back up there with the best again.”
Long jumper Polly Maton grabbed T47 silver with her final jump to leap from fourth to second with a lifetime best of 5.23m. The 17-year-old arm amputee had already finished fifth in the 100m.
She said: “To come and hear a crowd roar for you, and to come and perform, it really is a dream come true.
“I cannot put in words quite how much it means to me to come out and do it in front of all my family, all my friends, and see everyone there cheering me on.”
Jordan Howe also claimed silver in the T35 100m with a personal best of 12.52s.